Negligence

NEGLIGENCE

A claim of negligence may arise in a variety of contexts. A civil action for negligence has four elements: (1) duty; (2) breach; (3) causation; and (4) harm. Issues may arise whether a duty of care to the injured person existed under the circumstances. The law may impose a common-law duty to use ordinary or reasonable care to prevent injury to a person under the circumstances of the case. What constitutes ordinary care typically depends on the facts and circumstances of the case. Under some circumstances, an individual may owe a heightened duty of care. The law also recognizes degrees of culpability, such as gross negligence recklessness.

An appeal can involve questions of causation. A party may owe a duty of care but his or her conduct was not the proximate cause of the injured person’s harm. Also, the consequences of a person’s conduct may not have been foreseen or foreseeable. There may have existed intervening or superseding causes that relieve the offending party of liability. The person harmed may have been comparatively negligent, and therefore bears partial responsibility for the harm.

Appeals involving negligence actions may deal with questions of whether the evidence supported the action, as well as whether the trial court made correct procedural and evidentiary rulings. Appeals may also seek to challenge the granting or denial of a summary judgment motion.

Contact Appeals Lawyer Bruce R. Bryan

Appeals lawyer Bruce R. Bryan has the background and experience to handle your negligence appeal. With more than 20 years as an appeals lawyer, Mr. Bryan has handled a variety of civil appeals.

In addition to his full-time practice as an appeals lawyer, Mr. Bryan is an Adjunct Professor of Appellate Advocacy at Cornell Law School, an Ivy League law school. He also teaches other lawyers about appeals to federal and state appeals courts. Mr. Bryan has appeared before state appeals courts, federal circuit courts of appeal and the Supreme Court of the United States.

To retain Mr. Bryan to handle your negligence appeal, or a case in one of his related areas of practice, please contact him at his office in Syracuse, New York by calling 315-280-8790 to request a consultation.